Somalia's new Prime
Minister, Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke is expected to begin naming cabinet ministers
today (Friday), which is seen as the first step in constituting a unity government. He is currently
holding talks with President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed as well as the Somali
parliament currently meeting in Djibouti about his choice for cabinet ministers.
Prime Minister Sharmarke is also expected to present his first 90 days plan to
parliament for discussion and endorsement. Abdirahman Warsame Abdushakur is a
Somali parliamentarian and close associate of President Sheikh Ahmed. He tells
reporter Peter Clottey that there is a general consensus that former warlords
should not be included in the new administration.

"The
Prime Minister within the next 48 hours from today (Friday) will appoint his
cabinet, which will consist of 31 ministers. He will appoint only ministers and
appoint deputy ministers when he goes back to Mogadishu and that should be
passed by parliament," Abdushakur noted.

He
said the new prime minister is required to present his first 90 days plan to
parliament in the coming days.

"From
today (Friday) the prime minister will distribute his program of 90 days and
parliament should have that program within 24 hours after the endorsement of
cabinet. So he is expected to present
today or probably tomorrow his program and his new cabinet, which parliament
should endorse by half or simple majority," he said.

Abdushakur
said members of the new cabinet would be constituted mainly based on
competence.

"The
expectation is to have a cabinet of competency and capability, which can
deliver and can deal with Somali problems. And I think most of the Somali
people expect that this cabinet should not include those who were warlords and
those who participated in the suffering of the people. There would be new faces
as the prime minister and the president," Abdushakur noted.

He
sharply disagreed with supporters of warlords who are calling for their
inclusion in the new unity government.

"This
is a new era of Somali politics, which started from the president who is the
new face of Somali politics as well as the prime minister. So, the cabinet will
be the same and that is what the Somali people expect. And this is to say that
the warlord era has ended and the new face would be introduced to the Somali
people. And also the cabinet would consist of both the TFG (Transitional
Federal Government) and ARS (Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia)…and
those who are outside the TFG and the ARS," he said.

Abdushakur
said there are efforts underway to bring peace and stability to the country.

"Already,
the president has established inside Somalia and Mogadishu the National
Security Committee, which will deal with all security issues and by the way
included are the current security problems. And already former members of the
TFG as well as parliamentarians are now preparing to take back the seat of
parliament. And to negotiate with the local community and all the secularists
in Baidoa so that when that negotiation end, the government will definitely
take back the seat of parliament," Abdushakur pointed out.

He
said the Somali parliamentarians would soon relocate from Djibouti where they
have been holding meetings to the capital, Mogadishu.

"The
parliament and the new cabinet will soon relocate to Mogadishu and then from
Mogadishu the government will try to improve the security inside and outside
Mogadishu and Baidoa will be the priority," he said.

Sharmarke recently
said he was willing to hold discussions with hard line Islamist insurgents to
end violence that has plagued the country for nearly two decades. He has the
unenviable task of forming an inclusive government to unite and bring peace to
the country after 18 years of ineffective government since the overthrow of
President Siad Barre in 1991.

Meanwhile, Islamic insurgent
group, al-Shabaab has refused to recognize both the president and the new prime
minster vowing to take over the country and institute Sharia Law. Al-Shabaab
sharply denounced Sharmarke as an illegitimate imposition from the west.